Liquid Crystal Display Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A liquid crystal display apparatus includes a liquid crystal display unit for displaying image signals, a lighting device including a light-adjustment unit for adjusting a quantity of light from a light source, which is transmitted to each of plural regions into which the lighting device is divided for illuminating corresponding plural illumination regions of an entirety of a display area of the liquid crystal display unit, and a control unit. The control unit controls each light-adjustment unit in synchronization with horizontal synchronization signals and vertical synchronization signals, so that the adjusted light quantity of individual ones of the plural regions of the divided lighting device is shifted among the plural regions and an individual illumination region of the plural illumination regions of the entirety of the display area of the liquid crystal display unit is correspondingly shifted therewith.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/532,740, filed Mar. 22, 2000, the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display apparatus, andespecially to an active matrix-type liquid crystal display apparatus.

In a conventional active matrix-type liquid crystal display apparatus, atwisted nematic mode, a lateral electric field mode, a MVA (Multidomainvertical Alignment) mode, and so on, which use nematic liquid crystalmaterial, are used. Further, in those liquid crystal displayapparatuses, there is a display method called a “hold type” displaymethod, and in this display method, the same image is displayed duringone display period of an image signal, that is, during one frame period.

When dynamic images are displayed on a “hold type” crystal displayapparatus, one image of the dynamic images which actually change momentby moment, is held during one frame period. That is, although one pointin the displayed image is displayed at the correct position at onemoment, the point in the displayed image is different from the actualpoint at other moments. Thus, since a human perceives dynamic images byaveraging the displayed images, the perceived images are not focused.

A paper entitled “Improving the Moving-Image Quality of TFT-LCDS” by K.Sueoka et al., IDRC 197, pp 203-206 (1998) discloses a technique inwhich, after the whole display panel has been scanned, a lighting deviceis turned on to eliminate the lack of focus due to the above averagingeffect.

However, in the above technique, since the lighting device is turned onafter the whole liquid crystal panel has been scanned, and the responseof the whole liquid crystal has been completed, the scanning period andthe response time must be significantly shortened. Also, since thelighting period of the lighting device is short, the light strength mustbe increased in order to achieve the same brightness as that obtained ina conventional liquid crystal display method. Thus, it is necessary toincrease the light-tube current, which in turn decreases the lifetime ofthe lighting device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an active matrix-typeliquid crystal display apparatus which is capable of displaying dynamicimages and of preventing the above problems.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an activematrix-type liquid crystal display apparatus comprising a liquid crystaldisplay unit including a pair of substrates, at least one of which istransparent, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched by the pair ofsubstrates, a plurality of electrodes for applying an electric field toat least one of the pair of substrates, and a plurality of activeelements connected to the plurality of electrodes; a lighting deviceincluding a plurality of light sources; and a control unit forcontrolling ON/OFF operation of at least one light source for each ofplural regions into which the lighting device is divided, based on adisplay response of said liquid crystal display unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of a liquidcrystal display apparatus of an embodiment according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a partial-plan view of a liquid crystal display unit of theliquid crystal display apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross section of the liquid crystal display unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting the relationship among the transmissionaxis of one of polarization plates, the longitudinal axis in the liquidcrystals, and the direction of the electric field applied to the liquidcrystals.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the composition of a lighting device Of theembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of alighting driver of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing the operation of the lighting driver.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing the relationship between thetransmittance and the brightness of the liquid crystal display unit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the composition of a lighting device inanother embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the composition of a lighting device inanother embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of alighting driver and a lighting device in another embodiment according tothe present invention.

FIG. 12 is a time chart showing the operation of the lighting drivershown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of a liquidcrystal display apparatus of another embodiment according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of alighting driver in another embodiment according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereafter, details of the embodiments will be explained with referenceto the drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 shows the composition of a liquid crystal display apparatusrepresenting an embodiment according to the present invention. Thisliquid crystal display apparatus includes a liquid crystal controller 1,a liquid crystal display unit 2, a scanning driver (a scanningelectrode-driver circuit) 3, an image driver (a pixel electrode-drivercircuit) 4, a power source circuit 5, a lighting driver (a lightingcontrol circuit) 6, and a lighting device 7. The liquid crystal displayunit 2 is placed on the lighting device 7. Further, in order to preventobscurity in the dynamic images, the lighting device 7 is divided into aplurality of regions, and the lighting driver 6 controls the lightingdevice 7 so that each region lights a corresponding region of the liquidcrystal display unit 2. In the following, each unit or part in theliquid crystal display apparatus will be explained.

First, the liquid crystal display unit 2 will be explained below. FIG. 2shows a plan view of a pixel element in the liquid crystal display unit2. Also, FIG. 3 shows a vertical cross section of the pixel element,which is viewed from the line A-A′ shown in FIG. 2. There is a commonelectrode 21 and a scanning signal electrode 22, which are made of Al,on the glass substrate 20, and the surfaces of these electrodes 21 and22 are covered with an alumina film 23. Further, a gate insulation film24 made of SiN is formed above these electrodes, and amorphous Si (a-Si)film 25, n-type a-Si film 26, an image signal electrode 27 made of Al/C,and a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) of a pixel electrode 28 are moreoverformed above the gate insulation film 24. Still further, a protectionfilm 29 is formed on the above elements 25-28, and alignment films 30are located above the protection film 29. The pixel is divided into fourregions by the image signal electrode 27, the common electrode 21, andthe pixel electrode 28. The pixel electrode 28 is partially superimposedon the common electrode 21, and the superimposed part acts as a holdingcapacitor. A black matrix 32 is formed on the substrate 31 on the sideof a color filter layer 33, which is disposed opposite to the abovesubstrate 20, and the color filter layer 33 is located on the blackmatrix 32.

Further, a protection layer 34 for the color filter layer 33 is formedon the color filter layer 33. Furthermore, the other one of thealignment films 30 is located on the protection layer 34. The liquidcrystal layer 35 is inserted between the upper and lower alignment films30. Moreover, the lighting device 36 including lamps 51 is placed on theglass substrate 20.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship among the direction 40 of the transmissionaxis in one of polarization plates, the longitudinal direction 41 in theliquid crystals and the direction 42 of the electric field applied tothe liquid crystals, where numeral 43 indicates a pair of electrodes. Inthe present invention, the direction 40 of the transmission axis in oneof the polarization plates is set parallel to the longitudinal direction41 of the liquid crystals, and the direction (not shown in this figure)of the transmission axis in the other one of the polarization plates isset perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 41 of the liquidcrystals. By the above setting of those directions 40, 41, and 42, whatis called a “normally closed mode” is obtained.

The other units shown in FIG. 1 will be explained below.

The liquid crystal controller 1 receives signals from the externalequipment, and outputs data groups (D0-D7), (D10-D17), and (D20-D27),which are data for R, G, and B, respectively, a horizontalsynchronization signal HSYNC, and a vertical synchronization signalVSYNC.

The composition of the liquid crystal controller 1 is changed dependingon the contents of the signals input to the controller 1. The case of ananalog signal input to the liquid crystal controller 1 will be explainedfirst. In the analog signal, image display-start signals aresuperimposed on image signals to display images on the liquid crystaldisplay unit 2. The liquid crystal controller 1 includes an A/Dconverter. The controller 1 extracts the image signals, and theextracted image signals are converted into three particular digitalsignals (D0-D7), (D10-D17), and (D20-D27) with the A/D converter.Further, the image display-start signals in the analog signal are outputas the vertical synchronization signal VSYNC, and sampling clock signalsin the A/D converter are output as the horizontal synchronization signalHSYNC.

Next, in the case when digital signals are input to the liquid crystalcontroller 1, the above digital image signals and the synchronizationsignals are generated by an external processor and input to thecontroller 1. Since the external processor generates the image signaldata (D0-D7), (D10-D17), and (D20-D27) based on the synchronizationsignals VSYNC and HSYNC, and inputs them to the controller 1, thosesignals input to the controller 1 are output without modification.

The synchronization signals VSYNC and HSYNC output from the controller 1are input to the scanning driver 3.

The scanning driver 3 uses a shift register 8 to generate a signal foreach scanning electrode in the liquid crystal display unit 2 based onthe input synchronization signals VSYNC and HSYNC. Next, the level ofthe signal for each scanning electrode is determined by a level-shiftingcircuit 9, and the signal for each scanning electrode is output.

The data (D0-D7), (D10-D17), and (D20-D27), and the synchronizationsignals VSYNC and HSYNC, which are output from the controller 1, areinput to the image driver 4. First, the data (D0-D7), (D10-D17), and(D20-D27) are input to a shift register 10 and are further input to aline memory 11 as a single line of data. Next, the levels of the dataare determined by a level-shifting circuit 12, and the data areconverted to analog signals by an A/D converter 13. The converted analogsignals are output to the respective pixel electrodes in the liquidcrystal display unit 2.

FIG. 5 shows a vertical cross section of the lighting device 7 of theembodiment. A light diffusion plate 50 is located on the upper part ofthe lighting device 7, which contacts the liquid crystal display unit 2,and a plurality of lamps 51 are arranged under the light diffusion plate50. Further, a light-reflection plate 52 is placed below the pluralityof lamps 51. The lighting device 7 is controlled by the lighting driver6 shown in FIG. 1.

The lighting driver 6 is connected to the power source circuit 5 and thelighting device 7, and it controls ON and OFF states of the lamps 51 inthe lighting device 7 in order to prevent obscurity caused in thedynamic image display. In this embodiment, the lighting device 7 isdivided into three region a, b, and c, and ON and OFF states of thelamps 51 in each region are controlled by the lighting driver 6.

FIG. 6 shows the schematic composition of a lighting driver of theembodiment. The lighting driver includes counters 61, 62, and 63,pulse-generation circuits 64, 65, and 66, switches 67, 68, and 69, andinverters 70, 71, and 72. The respective counters receive the horizontalsynchronization signal HSYNC and count the number of pulses in theHSYNC. The pulse-counting of the respective counters will be explainedlater. The counters 61, 62, and 63 receive the vertical synchronizationsignal VSYNC, the output signal from the counter 61, and the output fromthe counter 62, respectively, as signals to start the pulse-counting.Further, when the pulse-generation circuits 64, 65, and 66 receive theoutput signals from the counters 61, 62, and 63, each pulse-generationcircuit outputs a Hi (High)-level signal for a predetermined time. Therespective switches 67, 68, and 69 are turned on while the outputsignals are in the Hi-level state. Power is then input from the powersource circuit to the inverters 70, 71, and 72, and the lamps 51 in eachregion are lighted.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing changes in the horizontal and verticalsynchronization signals HSYNC and VSYNC, and the output signals from theinverters 70, 71, and 72. The operation of the lighting driver isexplained below with reference to an example in which the periods of thehorizontal and vertical synchronization signals HSYNC and VSYNC are setto 16.6 ms and 15 μs, respectively, the scanning of the whole liquidcrystal display unit 2 composed of 800×600 pixels takes 9 ms, and theresponse time of the liquid crystals is 9 ms for intermediate gradation.In this embodiment, the lighting device is divided into three regions a,b, and c, and lamps 51 in each region are lighted after the scanning ofeach region, and the response in the liquid crystals corresponding tothat region have been completed. Thus the regions a, b, and c arelighted after 12 ms, 15 ms, and 18 ms, respectively, for 4.6 ms afterthe start of the scanning of the portion corresponding to each region,of the liquid crystal display unit 2.

To achieve the above operation, the counter 61 outputs a signal when 800pulses of the horizontal synchronization signal HSYNC have been counted.Also, the counter 62 outputs a signal when 200 pulses of the horizontalsynchronization signal HSYNC have been counted after the counter 61 hasoutput its signal, and then the counter 63 outputs a signal when 200pulses of the horizontal synchronization signal HSYNC have been countedafter the counter 62 has outputted its signal. Further, the respectivepulse-generation circuits 64, 65, and 66 output Hi-level signals for 4.6ms after they have received output signals from the counters 61, 62, and63.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing the relationship between thetransmittance and the brightness of the liquid crystal display unit. Thetransmittance shown in this figure is the average value of thetransmittance values of the three regions in the liquid crystal displayunit 2. As shown in FIG. 8, the lamps 51 in each region of the lightingdevice 7 are controlled so as to be lighted after the transmittance ofthe liquid crystal display unit 2 has reached the saturation state.

Under the above-mentioned conditions, even if dynamic images obtained bymoving a static image at a visual-angle speed of 10 degrees/s aredisplayed, there is no perceptible obscurity in the dynamic images.

In this embodiment, although a back light method in which the lamps 51are located directly under the liquid crystal display unit 2 is adoptedin the lighting device, the lighting method is not restricted to theback light method, and a side-light method can also be used.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, the device whose composition is shown in FIG. 9 isused as the lighting device 7. The composition of the liquid crystaldisplay apparatus, other than this lighting device, is the same as thecomposition in Embodiment 1. The feature of the lighting device shown inFIG. 9 is that there are light-reflection plates 80 in each region inthe lighting device 7 located such that they almost contact theirrespective region. In the liquid crystal display apparatus using thislighting device as well as that according to Embodiment 1, even ifdynamic images obtained by moving a static image at a visual-angle speedof 10 degrees/s are displayed, there is no perceptible obscurity in thedynamic images. The degradation in the contrast at the boundary betweenthe regions, which is somewhat perceptible in the apparatus according toEmbodiment 1, does not occur.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, respective shutters located above the lamps 51 areopened and closed, thereby eliminating the need to turn the lamps on andoff. The output signals from the lighting driver 6 shown in FIG. 1 areinput to the shutters. Further, power is fed to each lamp in thelighting device 7 from the power source circuit 5, and the lamps 51 arealways on.

FIG. 10 shows the composition of the lighting device 7 in thisembodiment. This lighting device 7 includes the light diffusion plate50, and the plurality of lamps 51 and light-reflection plates 52.Further, the shutters 41, 42, and 43 are located between the lightdiffusion plate 50 and the lamps 51 for the respective regions a, b, andc. These shutters 41, 42, and 43 are liquid crystal panels made offerroelectric liquid crystals, and they are connected to the outputterminals of the lighting driver 6. When the output signals from thelighting driver 6 are applied to the respective liquid crystal panels41, 42, and 43, their operational states are changed to thewhite-display state, and the light of the lamps 51 is transmitted to theliquid crystal display unit 2. Since the lighting driver 6 shown in FIG.6 outputs high-level voltage signals, it is necessary to change thecomposition of the lighting driver 6 so as to output low-level voltagesignals. If the low-level voltage output from the power source circuit 5is used directly, the above composition is more easily achieved.

Moreover, if liquid crystal panels remaining in the white-display statewhen the voltage signal is not applied to them are used for theshutters, it is necessary to provide inverting circuits through whichthe output signals are sent from the lighting driver 6.

The results of the evaluation of the liquid crystal display apparatuscarried out using dynamic images in the same manner as that done forEmbodiment 1 shows no perceivable obscuring. Further, since the lamps 51are not turned on and off, the lifetime of the lamps 51 can be extended.The lifetime of the lamps in Embodiment 1 is about 5000 h, and that ofthose in this embodiment is extended to about 8000 h. Although theferroelectric liquid crystal material, which possesses a memorizationfunction, is used for the shutters in this embodiment, any type ofshutters with a high-speed response can attain the same effects.Furthermore if their apertures can be adjusted, and light sensors orvariable resistors are provided in the liquid crystal display apparatus,the apertures can be adjusted corresponding to the amount of light inthe environment by changing the voltage from the power source circuit 51based on the output signals from the light sensors or using the variableresistors. In this composition, the shutters are devices to adjust thequantity of the transmitted light.

Embodiment 4

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of alighting driver and a lighting device in this embodiment. This lightingdriver 6 includes counters 110-115, pulse-generation circuits 116-121,and switches 123-128, and the operations of these circuits are the sameas those in the lighting driver 6 shown in FIG. 6. The counters 110-115receive the horizontal synchronization signal HSYNC and count the pulsesin the vertical synchronization signal VSYNC. Further, the counter 110and the respective counters 111-115 use the vertical synchronizationsignal VSYNC and the output signals from their previous stages as thesignals to start pulse-counting. Furthermore, when the respectivepulse-generation circuits 116-121 receive the signals output from thecounters 110-115, each pulse-generation circuit outputs a Hi-levelsignal for a predetermined time. The respective switches 123-128 outputthe voltage from the power source circuit 5 while the output signalsfrom the respective pulse-generation circuits 116-121 are in theHi-level state. The lighting device 7 includes a plurality of surfaceemission elements 129-134. The plurality of surface emission-typeelements 129-134 emit light when they respectively receive the poweroutput from the switches 123-128.

In the following, the operational conditions for each circuit in thelighting driver 6 shown in FIG. 11 will be explained. Under operationalconditions such that the scanning time for the whole liquid crystaldisplay unit 2 is 16.2 ms, and the response time of the liquid crystaldisplay unit 2 is 9 ms, in the same manner as that in Embodiment 1, thesurface emission element 129 of the region a starts light-emission 11.7ms after the start of scanning on the liquid crystal display unit 2, andit ends the light-emission 4.9 ms after its starting it. Further, theregions b, c, d, e, and f start light-emission 14.4 ms, 17.1 ms, 19.8ms, 22.5 ms, and 25.2 ms, respectively, after the start of scanning inthe liquid crystal display unit 2, and they end the light-emission at4.9 ms after starting the respective light-emission.

To achieve the above operation, the counter 110 outputs a signal when585 pulses of the horizontal synchronization signal HSYNC have beencounted after the counter 110 has received the vertical synchronizationsignal VSYNC. Also, the counters 111-115 output their respective signalswhen 135 pulses of the horizontal synchronization signal HSYNC have beencounted after each counter has received the signal output from thecounter for the previous stage. Further, the respective pulse-generationcircuits 116-121 output Hi-level signals during 4.6 ms after they havereceived output signals from the counters 110-115.

FIG. 12 is a time chart showing the operation of the lighting driver 6shown in FIG. 11.

When a static image which has been moved is displayed on the liquidcrystal display apparatus according to this embodiment in the samemanner as Embodiment 1, there is no perceptible obscurity in thesimulated dynamic images. Although the number of region divisions is 6,this number is not restricted to 6. As described above, if the number ofregion divisions is increased, the scanning time for the whole displayunit can be extended. Therefore, increasing the number of regiondivisions is effective in a case when the selection time for onescanning line necessarily becomes short, such as in the case of a largescreen and high definition-type display. If the lighting device withsurface emission-type elements in this embodiment or shutters inEmbodiment 3 is used, the number of region divisions can be increased,which in turn can extend the selection time for one scanning line.Moreover, if surface emission-type elements are used as shown in thisembodiment, the diffusion plate 50 and the lamps 51 used in Embodiments1, 2, and 3 are not necessary, and this can make the lighting device 7thinner. Here, EL elements, surface emission-type fluorescent tubes, andso on can be used for the surface emission-type element in thisembodiment. Furthermore, lighting elements each having LEDs arranged ina plane can be used. However, in the above lighting element structure, adiffusion plate is necessary.

Although the lateral electric field mode is used for the liquid crystaldisplay mode in the above-described embodiments, the liquid crystaldisplay mode is not restricted to the lateral electric field mode. Theabove embodiments can be implemented with the twisted nematic mode, theMVA mode, the OCB (Optically Compensated Bent cell) mode, and so on.

Embodiment 5

The liquid crystal display apparatus according to this embodiment iscomposed such that the display mode is switched between a dynamicimage-display mode and a static image-display mode. The composition andoperation of this liquid crystal display apparatus are explained below.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of theliquid crystal display apparatus of this embodiment. This liquid crystaldisplay apparatus includes a liquid crystal controller 130, the liquidcrystal display unit 2, the scanning driver 3, the image driver 4, thepower source circuit 5, a lighting driver 132, and the lighting device7. The liquid crystal display unit 2, the scanning driver 3, the imagedriver 4, the power source circuit 5, and the lighting device 7 are thesame as those in Embodiment 1. The liquid crystal controller 130includes a dynamic image-detection device 131, which receives signalsfrom external equipment and determines whether or not the receivedsignals constitute dynamic images. That is, this dynamic image-detectiondevice 131 compares the image signals of one frame which has just beeninput with those of one frame which was previously input. If thediscrepancy between the image signals of the one frame which has justbeen input with those of one frame which was previously input is largerthan a predetermined value, the dynamic image-detection device 131determines that dynamic images have been input. Although the comparisonis performed between the two groups of image signals for the two framesin the above example, the comparison can be performed among the threegroups of image signals for three frames: that is, the present,previous, and next previous frames. The result detected by the dynamicimage-detection device 131 in the liquid crystal controller 130 is inputto the lighting driver 132 via a signal line 133.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram showing the composition of thelighting driver 132 in this embodiment. This lighting driver 132includes the counters 61-63, the pulse-generation circuits 64-66, theswitches 67-69, and the inverter 70-72. The operations of the counters61 63 and the pulse-generation circuits 64-66 are the same as thoseshown in FIG. 6. The respective switches 67-69 are connected to thepulse-generation circuits 64-66, and further to the signal line 133connected to the dynamic image-detection device 131 in the liquidcrystal controller 130 via inverting circuits 140 and respective diodes141 143. The operations of the switches 67-69 are explained below. Thedynamic image-detection device 131 outputs a signal to the signal line133 when it detects dynamic images. In the lighting driver 132, sincethe signal sent to the signal line 133 is inverted by the invertingcircuit 140, the level of the sent signal is changed to a low-levelsignal, and thus the switches 67-69 are not turned on. That is, whendynamic images are detected by the dynamic image-detection device 131,the switches 67-69 are controlled by the pulse-generation circuits64-66, respectively. Conversely, when dynamic images are not detected bythe dynamic image-detection device 131, a signal is not output to thesignal line 133 from the dynamic image-detection device 131.Accordingly, in the lighting driver 132, the low-level signal sent fromthe dynamic image-detection device 131 is inverted to a high-levelsignal by the inverting circuit 140, and thus the switches 67-69 areturned on. That is, when dynamic images are not detected by the dynamicimage-detection device 131, the switches 67-69 are continuously turnedon, and the voltage is output to the lighting device 7 from the powersource circuit 5 via the lighting driver 132. In this way, while astatic image is input, the switches 67-69 are continuously turned on.

According to this embodiment, since the liquid crystal display apparatusdynamically responds only when dynamic images are input, the powerconsumption can be reduced. For example, the power consumption indisplaying a static image is about one fourth of that in displayingdynamic images. Meanwhile, a detection circuit such as that described inthis embodiment is not always used to switch the display mode betweendynamic and static image-display mode, and a signal in a personalcomputer, which indicates that a TV tuner, a dynamic CDROM, or a dynamicimage-reproducing program is operated in the personal computer, can beused to switch the display mode.

In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to provide aliquid crystal display apparatus which can smoothly display dynamicimages without obscurity.

1. A liquid crystal display apparatus comprising: a liquid crystaldisplay; a lighting device including a plurality of light sources whichis divided into plural regions for illuminating corresponding pluralillumination regions of an entirety of a display area of the liquidcrystal display unit; and a control unit for controlling ON and OFFstates of a light source for each of the plural regions into which thelighting device is divided, in synchronization with horizontalsynchronization signals and vertical synchronization signals, so thatthe ON state of individual ones of the plural regions of the dividedlighting device is shifted among the plural regions, and an individualillumination region of the plural illumination regions of the entiretyof the display area of the liquid crystal display unit iscorrespondingly shifted therewith.
 2. A liquid crystal display apparatuscomprising: a liquid crystal display unit for displaying image signals;a lighting device including a light-adjustment unit for adjusting aquantity of light from a light source, which is transmitted to each ofplural regions into which the lighting device is divided forilluminating corresponding plural illumination regions of an entirety ofa display area of the liquid crystal display unit; and a control unitfor controlling each light-adjustment unit in synchronization withhorizontal synchronization signals and vertical synchronization signals,so that the adjusted light quantity of individual ones of the pluralregions of the divided lighting device is shifted among the pluralregions and an individual illumination region of the plural illuminationregions of the entirety of the display area of the liquid crystaldisplay unit is correspondingly shifted therewith.
 3. A liquid crystaldisplay apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the light-adjustmentunit transmits light when no voltage is applied to the light-adjustmentunit.
 4. A liquid crystal display apparatus according to claim 2,wherein each region in the lighting device is partitioned with partitionplates.
 5. A liquid crystal display apparatus comprising: a liquidcrystal display unit; a controller for controlling image-displayingperformed by the liquid crystal display unit; a drive unit for drivingsaid liquid crystal display unit based on a signal sent from saidcontroller; a lighting device which includes a plurality of lightsources, for transmitting light from the plurality of light sources tothe liquid crystal display unit; and a control unit for controlling ONand OFF states of a light source for each of plural regions into whichthe lighting device is divided, in synchronization with horizontalsynchronization signals and vertical synchronization signals, whendynamic images are displayed.
 6. A liquid crystal display apparatusaccording to claim 5, wherein the control unit turns on all lightsources in the lighting device while a static image is displayed.